1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having the same, and more particularly, to a paper cassette feeder that can be easily separated from an image forming apparatus when paper is jammed in a paper feeding path, thereby removing a paper jam easily, and an image forming apparatus having the same.
2. Related Art
A typical image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a photo-copier, a facsimile machine, and a multi-functional product, is provided with a charging process that charges the surface of a photoconductor, such as a photosensitive drum, to an electric potential; an exposing process that irradiates light onto the surface of the photoconductor from a light scanning unit, such as a laser scanning unit, and forms an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor; a developing process that develops the electrostatic latent image into a visible toner image by supplying toner developing material onto the electrostatic latent image; a paper feeding process that feeds a printable medium such as paper along a paper feeding path after picking up the printing paper from a paper cassette feeder; a transfer process that transfers the toner image from the photoconductor onto the printing paper; a fixing process that fixes the toner image onto the printing paper by applying a high temperature and pressure; and a discharging process that discharges the printing paper after forming an image from an image forming apparatus.
Such an image forming apparatus, which forms an image on a printable medium such as paper as described, includes a paper cassette feeder (hereinafter referred to as a main cassette feeder) on which 150˜250 sheets of paper can be loaded. To use more paper sheets, a secondary cassette feeder (SCF) is further included in the main frame of the image forming apparatus. The SCF operates based on its own driving mechanism. Normally, the SCF is disposed at a lower part of the main cassette feeder to provide additional paper sheets, and includes a pick-up roller and a conveying roller. The pick-up roller supplies the paper, which is loaded on the secondary cassette feeder (SCF), to the image forming apparatus. In general, the conveying roller is called an intermediate roller.
One or more paper guides are included in the main cassette feeder and the main frame of the image forming apparatus to facilitate conveying of the paper, complementarily. When paper is fed from the SCF to the main frame of the image forming apparatus, the paper may be jammed in a paper feeding path. If the paper is tightly jammed between the paper guide of the main cassette feeder and the paper guide of the main frame, the jammed paper functions as a binding member that tightly binds the two paper guides.
In this situation, a user must separate the main cassette feeder from the main frame of the image forming apparatus in order to remove the jammed paper. However, since the jammed paper is not easily removed, the user usually pulls the main cassette feeder by an excessive force so as to separate the main cassette feeder from the main frame of the mage forming apparatus. Unfortunately, when an excessive force is used to pull the main cassette feeder, the jammed paper can be torn easily and frequently.